Reflect/Holy Spirit

Holiday reflections

Recording the sermon on the phone

Prayer

Lord, thank-you that we can gather today to hear your word. May it be your words we hear, guided by the Holy Spirit. May we each humble ourselves to learn what it is in this moment you want to teach us. May todays message spur us on to be bold to declare Your good news to the people you put on our hearts. Amen

recap the kid's talk.

The Hand out - what is this about?

We are to be lifelong apprentices to Jesus. The Key to this learning is always listening to the voice of God and responding.

This learning circle tool has come from me from a range of places

3DMovement

COACH

Citywide

my own convictions

Jesus - Mark 1:14-15

Mark 1:14–15 NIV

After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

Time - Greek word Kairos not Chronos

The ancient Greeks had two words for time: Chronos (χρόνος) and kairos (καιρός). The former refers to chronological or sequential time, (the clock) while the latter signifies an opportune time for action. While Chronos is quantitative (measurable), kairos has a qualitative (moment in time, unmeasurable).

Some examples of Kairos moments:

Large Kairos events: Leaving home, getting married, having a baby, death of a loved one, moving, changing job or school.

I ticked off many of these last year.

Smaller but often missed/undiagnosed: Tired, busy, stressed, lonely

These moments give us an opportunity to reflect on our circumstances and grow or learn. And Jesus is saying here he wants to be part of that journey. In fact, following him, being an apprentice to the king will mean more moments with the master to grow and live life to the full.

As we focus on Jesus in these Kairos moments 3 things can happen

We develop a lifestyle of learning as an apprentice of Jesus;

We recognise important events as opportunities for growth; and

we learn how to process these events.

The Church meeting next week will be a Kairos moment - The Time has come - The kingdom is near and we want Launceston/Newstead to see more apprentices to the King, turning from living life without God to believing in the good news of Jesus.

We are going to spend time listening to what God is up to in our community and pray for how we can join in the master's work.

But we need to be on this journey individually and collectively.

Repent - turn around

Believe - Trust

What is God saying to me/to us and what am I /we, going to do about it?

My Favourite day so far as a pastor was using this tool at our life group

As I put out there this model we had 3 respond with their own reflections on what God is saying to them, and what the next steps were and then they did it. For me to witness that has been the highlight of my year so far.

As Christians, we tend to think linearly about our discipleship journey. The starting point is salvation and the ending point is heaven, yet scripture (psalm and the letters to the church) would seem to indicate that our apprenticeship with Jesus is much more dynamic and relational.

Put your hand up if you have been an apprentice/intern before.

Put your hand up if you have had an apprentice before.

Talk about Rob helping with the painting of the baby room.

Interview with Simon

What is it like having an apprentice?

Making mistakes - how do you correct them?

When they think they know everything - how do you correct them?

Maybe teach the square?

As we follow Jesus or even as we learn about who he is, we have a decision to make. Do we ignore, give up or run from these experiences with God or do we take the opportunity, which might be painful and grow?

Now the key thing here is that God is the master, we only need to watch him, and learn from him. He promises to be with us, Father God, Jesus, and the holy spirit.

We just spent a series on the holy spirit so I just want to point out again how important it is for us to create space to listen to the Holy Spirit.

Jesus said:

John 16:12–15 NIV

“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”

The Holy Spirit is our Guide and we are to test our reflections with the Holy Spirit who will not condemn but speak truth to us as Jesus and the father want to speak truth to us and put us on a path to repent and believe.

Romans 8:1–2 NIV

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.

Through Jesus we are not condemned when we fail, we are the king's apprentice and that means we come under his responsibility and he says we are justified - we are good.

Yet the Spirit will convict us -

And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:

John16:8 (ESV)

The word “conviction” is to reveal something to be wrong. Conviction doesn’t carry the judgmental aspect. It's pointing a finger at the problem without compromising on telling what it is.

The Spirit doesn’t see people as the problem, it points out the problem in the people.

Condemnation is pointing at you as a person and is what the devil tries to use to make you feel guilty and unworthy to carry on as Jesus' apprentice. Conviction points to a wrong action, mindset, or belief. It is the master pointing out the fault in your technic and wants to teach you a better way to live your life.

Here are two examples from scripture

John the Baptist was convicting Herod for the sin of marrying his brother’s wife (Luke 3:19). Herod condemned John the Baptist by beheading him.

Saul condemned Christians therefore he persecuted them. Jesus appeared on the road to Damascus and convicted Saul of his wrong actions. (Acts 9:1–6)

So in life, we are to be aware of the kairos moments by reflecting on them and listening to the spirit convict or encourage us into changing course to grow.

I want you to look at today's reading and count how many kairos moments there are for Jesus.

How many do you think?

We also see the Spirit guiding Jesus.

We can also see how he recognises the next steps and responds by going into the dessert and calling his disciples.

So how are we to RESPOND to this series

How is our own apprenticeship with Jesus going?

Is there someone I need to apprentice to?

Is there someone I need to ask, to be my apprentice - to follow me as I follow Christ 1 Cor. 11:1

Some homework for this week: Choosing a 40 day apprenticeship in a spiritual practice

40 days in Spring 1st September - 10th October

Inward Practices

Meditation - 40-day plan

Prayer - 40-day plan

Fasting - a meal a day

Study - Bible Project

Outward practices

Simplicity - 40-day plan

Solitude - go to place

Service - 40 acts of kindness

Next week Di will be sharing with us about the recognizing aspect.

We also have our church meeting - a perfect time to be applying this tool for the church - what reflection do we have (what is God saying to us as a church) - how do we recognise God’s work already and apply this call to the community - Then let's do it.

Pray